The present invention relates to a printing plate for corrugated board
The hitherto-known printing plates for corrugated board include a vulcanized assembly comprising a face layer and a reverse layer, each made of natural or synthetic rubber with a JIS rubber hardness of 30 to 60, and a textile or other reinforcing sheet interposed between said layers and a vulcanized assembly comprising a reverse rubber layer, a reinforcing sheet, an intermediate rubber layer and a thin face rubber layer built up in the order mentioned, said reverse rubber layer and intermediate rubber layer having a JIS rubber hardness of 30 to 60 and said face rubber layer having a JIS rubber hardness lower by 10 to 20 than the hardness of said intermediate rubber layer (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 52064/1981).
The conventional printing plates for corrugated board are invariably solid rubber plates but there is a lower limit to hardness and it is impossible to lower the hardness to less than the JIS-A rubber hardness of 20. If the hardness is reduced to less than 20, the printing plate will be too soft to preclude an uneven print. On the other hand, if a material plate having a hardness of 30 or more is sculptured to prepare a relief printing plate and a corrugated board is printed using it, the printing pressure will be so high that an excess of printing ink deposits on the leading side of the projections of the plate to yield the so-called marginal zone. Another trouble is that the interliner is crushed by the printing pressure to cause a decrease in board strength Particularly when the corrugated board is scored for folding and printed across the scores, the printing ink is not readily deposited at the scores to cause a local omission of printing. Attempting to overcome this drawback by increasing the printing pressure results in collapse of the interliner.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved printing plate free of the above-mentioned disadvantages, wherein a rubber or resin foam sheet is used for reducing the required printing pressure to prevent a decrease in board strength, eliminating the occurrence of said marginal zone and the uneven impression at folding scores to assure a uniform and sharp print and facilitating removal of unwanted areas in sculpturing.